Dome-supporting shore assembly for a concrete ceiling slab form

ABSTRACT

A supporting shore for a concrete ceiling slab, having a vertically and downwardly shiftable rotatable member which normally supports the adjacent truncated four corners of a quadrilaterally arranged group of four inverted generally rectangular pan-shaped slab-supporting domes and which, in the lowered and rotated position of the member, moves out of operative register with two of the four corners so as to release the other two corners for dome-removal purposes, while at the same time the shore continues to support the concrete ceiling slab until the latter has become fully hardened.

United States Patent Pipala [451 Nov. 13, 1973 DOME-SUPPORTING SHORE ASSEMBLY FOR A CONCRETE CEILING SLAB FORM Dennis R. Pipala, Park Ridge, 111.

Symons Corporation, Des Plaines, 111.

Filed: Oct. 18, 1971 App]. No.: 190,215

Related US. Application Data Division of Ser. No. 3,061, Jan. 15, 1970, Pat. No. 3,647,173.

inventor:

Assignee:

us. or. 249/212, 249/31 Int. Cl. E04g 11/40 Field of Search 249/31, 18, 26, 28,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1923 White 249/212 3/1969 Bowden et al. 249/210 X Primary Examiner-Robert D. Baldwin Attorney-Norman H. Gerlach ABSTRACT I A supporting shore for a concrete ceiling slab, having a vertically and downwardly shiftable rotatable member which normally supports the adjacent truncated four corners of a quadrilaterally arranged group of four inverted generally rectangular pan-shaped slabsupporting domes and which, in the lowered and rotated position of the member, moves out of operative register with two of the four corners so as to release the other two corners for dome-removal purposes, while at the same time the shore continues to support 1 the concrete ceiling slab until the latter has become fully hardened.

1 Claim, 9 Drawing Figures I Pmmnzonnnsmn 3371.756

' SHEET yUF 4 DOME-SUPPORTING SHORE ASSEMBLY FOR A CONCRETE CEILING SLAB FORM I This application is a division of my co-pending UnitedStates patent application Ser. No. 3,061, filed on Jan. '15, 1970 and entitled CONCRETE SEALING SLAB FORM SUPPORTING SHORE ASSEMBLY THEREFOR (now US. Pat. No. 3,647,173, granted on Mar. 7, 1972).

The present invention relates generally to concrete building construction and has'particular reference to a novel shore assemblywhich is designed for usein r'eleasably supporting the four adjacent corners of a series of four quadrilaterally arranged ceiling slab-supporting domes preparatory to and during a concrete pouring operation, as well as after the concrete has been poured and up until such time as the concrete has become sufficiently set or hardened that it is considered safe to re-' move the domes. Specifically, the shore assembly of the present invention is of the general type which is illustrated and described in US. Pat. No. 3,430,910, granted on Mar. 4, 1969 and entitled STRINGER? RELEASING SHORE ASSEMBLY FOR A CON- CRETE SLAB FORM INSTALLATION. Whereas the shore assembly which is disclosed in-such patent is designed normally to support adjacent ends of horizontally extending, longitudinally aligned stringers which in turn serve to support a series of horizontal slabsupporting panels and to release such stringers after the concrete which is poured upon the panels has become hardened to such an extent that the stringers and panels are; no longer considered essential for slab-supporting purposes, the present shore assembly differs from the patented shore assembly in that it is specifically designed for use in a concrete ceiling slab form installation which is devoid of stringers and panels and, in-

the latter designationbeing employed'here'in in the in-' terest of consistency, M The dome-supporting and. r leasing shore assembly of the present invention is similar in itspurpose to that INSTALLATION AND DOME-' of aforementioned US. Pat. No. 3,430,910 in that it serves to support a series of ceiling slab-supporting members. lt differs, however,- from the patented shore assembly in that theslab-supporting members, instead of being panel-supporting stringers, are the aforementioned domes, and also in that, instead of releasably supporting the adjacent ends of a pair of aligned stringers, it supports the aforementioned four adjacent corners of the quadrilaterally arranged series of domes. As will become apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, temporary support and subsequent will be described in detail hereafter.

Numerous other objects and advantages ofthe invert ing erection which is disclosed in and forms the subject matter of US. Pat. No. 3,130,470, granted on Apr. 28, 1964, and which is known in the industry as a Slab- Shore System. The present dome-supporting and releasing shore assembly similarly is designed further to extend the usefulness of such Slab-Shore System in that slab-supporting domes are permitted early release from the installation as soon as the concrete of the ceilingforming slab has become sufficiently hardened that the shore assembly alone will afford a safe support for the slab and sothat the domes may be put to use in furthering the erection of a building while the concrete of the slab continues to harden to the point where the shore assembly itself may be removed.

The provision of a dome-supporting and releasing shore assembly such as has briefly been outlined above constitutes the principal object of the invention. In carrying out this object, the shore assembly of the present invention embodies drop-type ledge-like supports which normally support adjacent corners of the quadrilaterally arranged domes prior to and-duringconcrete pouring operations around the outer surfaces of the domes. After the concrete has been poured and has become hardened to such a degree that the domes are no longer necessary for the over-all support of the concrete ceiling-formingslab, means are provided whereby these ledge-like supports may be lowered away from the domes while the upper end of the shore assembly continues to supportthe slab The domes may then be lowered away from the thus supported slab, and in order to afford a clearance region so as not to interfere with further downward movement of the domes for complete removal thereof from the installation, additional means are provided'whereby the ledge-like supports may be rotated to an out-of-the-way position with respect to the adjacent corners of the set of four quadrilaterally arranged domes, to the end that the domes may thenbe tilted out of their normal horizontal positions and caused topass beneath the supports for compl'ete removal from the installation, all in a manner that tion, not at this tim'e enur'nerated, willbecomereadily apparent asthe nature ,of the invention is better understood. I I

The invention consists in the several novel features which are hereinafter set forth and'are more particu' larly defined by the claim atthe conclusion hereof.

In the accompanying four sheets of drawings forming a part of this specification, one illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown.

In these drawings:

FIG.1 is a fragmentary top perspective view of a dometype concrete ceiling slab installation, showing a numberof the" improved dome-supporting and releasrelease of such four corners without destroying the slab-supporting function of the shore assembly poses a problem of dome clearance by the shore" assembly during the time that the domes are lowered away from the hardened concrete ceiling-forming slab which has been poured around the outer surfaces ofthe domes and the solution of this problem constitutes the principal feature of the present invention.

'It is here pointed out that the stringer-releasing shore assembly of US. Pat. No. 3,430,910 was designedto ing sho're assemblies of the present invention operatively installed therein, certain: of the-shore assemblies being shown in dome-supporting relationship and'others being shown in dome-releasing relationship;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspectiveview of one of the improved dome-supporting and releasing shoreassem- ,blies, such assembly being shown in its domesupporting relationship adjacent to the junctureregion between four quadrilaterally arranged domes, one of the domes being omitted in the interest of clarity;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of the dome-supporting and releasing shore assembly of FIG. 2, the ledge-like supports of the assembly being disposed in their operative or normal supporting relationship;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the assembly of FIGSv 2 and 3, the assembly being shown with the dome-supporting ledge-like supports in their lowered position in order to release the superjacent domes;

FIG. 5 is a vertical or longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4 and showing the assembly in its operative slab and dome-supporting relationship;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the twopart separable supporting clamp arrangement which is employed in connection with the invention and forms a part of the improved dome-supporting and releasing shore assembly;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the filler plate which is employed in connection with the invention and forms a part of the improved dome-supporting and releasing shore assembly;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken on the line 88 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 9 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken on the line 99 of FIG. 5.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and in particular to FIG. 1 wherein a concrete ceiling slab installation employing dome-supporting and releasing shore assemblies of the present invention is illustrated and designated in its entirety by the reference numeral 10, the various shore assemblies 12 are disposed vertically and are laterally spaced throughout the installation. In the interest of brevity, these assemblies 12 will hereinafter be referred to simply as shores. The upper end region of each of the illustrated shores serves normally to support the four converging or adjacent corner regions of a series of four quadrilaterally arranged slabsupporting domes 14, the support for such corner regions being in the form of a drop-shoulder device or cradle member 16. Each shore also serves by means of a filler plate 18 at its extreme upper end to support the concrete which is poured around the outer surfaces of the various domes 14 and which, upon hardening thereof, becomes the ceiling slab S (see FIGS. 4 and 5) which is to be formed.

The individual domes 14 resemble conventional domes in that they are of inverted pan shape construction. However, the domes l4 differ from such conventional domes in that they are provided with special rim flanges and with mitered or truncated corner regions as will appear presently. Each dome comprises a flat rectangular dome panel 20 which preferably is square and from the marginal edges of which there depends a series of four trapezoidal side walls 22. Rim flanges 24 project laterally. and outwards from the lower edges of the side walls 22 and the outer edges of these rim flanges are turned downwardly to provide depending marginal apron flanges 26. Portions of the rim flanges 24 and the depending marginal flanges 26 are omitted and filled in with short 45 filler flanges 28, thus establishing a series of four truncated corners for each dome as a whole. In the illustrated form of dome 14, the side walls 22 slope downwardly and outwardly at a small angle'although, if desired, these side walls may lie in vertical planes.

The dome-supporting and releasing shore 12 of the present invention involves in its general organization an adjustable base part which consists of any desired number of telescopic tubular sections, two such sections being shown at 30 and 32 and, in addition, an upper part in the form of a shore head 34. The shore head 34 is inclusive of the aforementioned filler plate 18 and the drop-shoulder device 16, the latter being in the form of a rotatable and vertically movable cradle member. The shore head 34 further includes an upper rotatable tubular body portion 36 and a lower non-rotatable inner post section 38 which, in effect, constitutes an upper shore section in that it seats upon the upper section 32 of the base part. The upper end region of the post section 38 is provided with an external screw thread 40 (see FIG. 5) which makes mating engagement with an internal screw thread 42 on the inner surface of the body portion 36 of the shore head 34. The upper portion of the post section 38 is of slightly increased diameter so that when the post section is threaded into the rotatable tubular body portion 36 an appreciable distance there will be an overhang of the internal screw thread 42, thus establishing on the body portion a depending cylindrical apron 44 which encompasses and is slightly spaced from the cylindrical side wall of the post section 38. The lower end of the post section 38 is formed with a reduced pilot portion46 (see FIG. 5) which projects into the upper end of the shore section 32 and establishes a downwardly. facing shoulder 48. The latter seats on the upper rim of said upper shore section 32. A hole 50 in the pilot portion 46 of the post section 38 registers with a hole 52 in the upper section 32 and both of these holes are adapted,

tating the body portion 36 of the shore head 34 in one direction or the other with respect to the fixed post section 38, elongation or shortening, as the case may be, of the shore 12 as a whole may be effected.

The upper end of the body portion 36 of the shore head 34 is provided with a circular combined end closure and bearing plate .(see FIG. 5 the rim portion of which extends downwardly and overhangs the upper end of the body portion 36 for a purpose that will be made clear presently. A vertically extending elevation post 62 has its lower end projecting through a hole 63 in the central portion of the plate 60 and is fixedly secured for rotation bodily with the body-portion 36 by means of a horizontal bolt 64 which projects diametrically across the upper end of the body portion and passes through a hole in the lower end of the post 62. The upper end of the post 62 is squared as indicated at 65 for reception of a suitable torque-applying tool such as a wrench by means of which the post, and consequently, the body portion 36, may be rotated as a unit, thus making it possible to effect a relatively fine adjustment of the height of the body portion for slab-leveling purposes, the adjustment being made by a workman operating from above the domes 14. A similar adjustment may also be made by a workman operating from ground level below the domes 14 by reason of a series of torquebrackets 66 which are welded to the lower and regions of the body portion 36, these brackets being capable of cooperation with a suitable spanner wrench or the like. A circular bearing flange 68 on the to receive thereover the slab-supporting filler plate 18 (see also FIG. 7). AnX-shaped pilot grid 76 on the underneath side of the filler plate 18 permits the plate to be positioned in a centered overlying position over the upper rim of the housing 70 so as to exclude the entrance of wet poured concrete into the latter. Upon removal of the filler plate 18, access is provided to the upper square end 65 of the elevation post 62 for manipulation of the latter.

The cradle member 16 or drop-shoulder device is of unitary construction and embodies welded parts including a central sleeve member 80 which encompasses and is both rotatable and vertically slidable on the tubular body portion 36, four triangular gusset webs 82 which projectradially outwards from the opposite sides of the sleeve member 80, andtwo laterally projecting ledge-like supports 84 which are carried at the upper ends of the webs 82. These ledge-like supports 84 are adapted normally to receive thereon and support the adjacent corner regions of four adjacent domes 14 as shown in FIGS.- 1 and 2 and, in order to insure retention of these corner regions thereon, each support 84 is provided with two upstanding posts 86 which underlie the adjacent domes and project behind the depending marginal flanges 26 of the domes.

The tubular central sleeve member 80 of the cradle member 16 loosely and rotatably surrounds the body portion 36 of the shore and is vertically shiftable thereon between the raised dome-supporting position in which it is.shown in FIG. 5 and the lowered domereleasing position in which it is shown in FIG. 4. The sleeve member 80 is adapted to be releasably supported in its elevated position by means of a two-part separable clamp arrangement 90, the details of which are clearly shown in FIG. 6. Such clamp arrangement comprises two arcuate counterpart sections 92 and 94 at certain opposed ends thereof two matingears 96 which are capable, of being connected together by a nut and bolt assembly 98, and alsohaving at their other opposed ends twomating ears 100 which are capable of being connected together by aconventional bolt and wedge assembly 102. The clamp arrangement 90 thus constitutes a separable and removable collar device I which is adapted to surround the body portion'36 intmove out of register with the truncated corners of the domes to allow for complete removal of the domes from the concrete ceiling slab installation, all in a manner that will be described in detail subsequently.

Considering now the operation of the herein described dome-supporting and releasing shore 12, the manner in which the shore of the present invention is manipulated to release the associated domes 14 from any given slab installation, for example, the installation of FIG. 1, is best illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 when taken in conjunction with FIG. 1. The disclosure of FIG. 5 represents the condition of one of the shores 12 when it is in its operative slab and dome-supporting position beneath a recently poured ceiling slab S and after the concrete has hardened sufficiently to justify removal of the domes 14 over which the concrete has been poured. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, each shore 12, when operatively installed in a ceiling slab form installation, serves to support the converging, juxtapositioned corner regions of four adjacent quadrilaterally arranged domes 14. Each of these four corner regions overlies one of the upstanding dome-retaining posts 86 and the lower edge of the associated filler flange 28 rests upon one of the ledge-like supports 84. The separable clamp arrangement 90 is in position on the tubular body portion 36 of the shore head 34 with its lower edge resting on the upper-edges of the two reaction plates 104 in order that the central sleeve member 80 of the cradle member (drop-shoulder device) 16 is maintained in an elevated position, thereby maintaining the various domes 14 at slab level, i.e., with their panels 20 in slab-supporting relationship. The various shores l2 assume the above-described condition prior to and during concrete pouring operations, as well as thereafter until such time as the condition of the concrete is such that it is considered safe to effect dome removal. Under favorable conditions, a 24 hour period may justify dome removal operations.

It will be obvious that upon lowering of each cradle member 16 of any given shore, all of the four corner regions of the associated quadrilaterally arranged domes which are supported thereby will be released by the shore for stripping fromthe ceiling slab which overlies mediately below the lower end of the sleeve member 80 when the latter is in its raised position 'and the lower edge of the clamp arrangement is supported on the upper edges of two arcuate reaction plates 104 which are welded to the surface of the body portion 36 in dia- ;metrically opposed relationship. Upon removal of the clamp arrangement 90 asshown in FIG. 4, the sleeve member 80 and its associated parts, as well as the entire the domes. Various methods ofdome removaL utilizi ng aseries of the present shores 12, may be resorted to, depending upon the preferences of the operator or operatores. If desired, cradle member lowering operations on all of the shores 12 may beeffected before any dome-stripping operations are resorted to, thisbeing possible because the concrete-to-plastic bond between the slab and the domes is adequate to retain the domes in position beneath the'slab, even though the domes be otherwise unsupported. Alternatively, cradle member lowering operations onfour adjacent shores will release one dome for removal purposes, and thus, consecutive dome removal operations maybe carried out by progressive manipulation of the various shores in this manner. For purposes of description, it will be assumed that consecutive shore manipulation involving four of the shores for individual shore release is initially accomplished, after which the domes may be pulled, as desired, from their adhering bond with the concrete slab.

In order to lower the cradle member 16 of any given shore 12, it is necessary merely to use impact force to separate the bolt and wedge assembly 22 from the mating ears 100, after which the nut and bolt assembly 98 may be loosened and the sections 92 and 94 separated to an extent sufficient to permit their removal from the central sleev'e member 80 of the cradle member 16. With the clamp arrangement 90 thus removed, the cradle member 16 in its entirety will become lowered so that it rests upon the reaction plates 104 as previously described. The phenomenon of adhesion causes the associated domes 14 to remain elevated and in contact with the superjacent slab S while the supports 84 are moved in order to withdraw the posts 86 from their positions behind the depending marginal flanges 26 of the four associated domes 14.

After any given group of four adjacent shores 12 has been thus manipulated so as to shift the. cradle member 16 from their elevated position to their lowered position, the dome 14 between the four shores may then be stripped from the'ceiling slab S thereabove, but with the various cradle members 16 maintaining their original orientation, the operator is unable to pass the released dome downwardly beyond the general level of the cradle members. The range of vertical movement of which the cradle members are capable is not adequate to permit tilting of the dome for sidewise or cornerwise removal since the edges of the dome will not clear the cradle members even when the allowable maximum tilting of the dome takes place.

To remedy this situation, the various cradle members 16 are rotatable on the tubular body portions 36 of the shore heads 34 so that by turning a given cradle member through an angle of 45 to shift its ledge-like supports 84 from positions of seam 'line register wherein these supports underlie the converging truncated corners of one group of four quadrilaterally arranged domes 14 to diagonal positions with respect to the checkerboard arrangement of domes, a clearance is provided for the adjacent corner region of one of the domes of the group to the end that this corner region is free to pass downwardly below the level of the cradle member. In FIG. 1, one of the domes 14 is shown as assuming a fully released condition wherein it is disposed below the level of four of the cradle members 16, each of which has been turned on its respective shore through an angle of 45. It is to be noted at this point that even though four of the cradle members 16 have been thus rotated through an angle of 45, these four cradle members still maintain their underlying relationship with all of the adjacent domes. It is also to be noted that although the dome 14 has been released by the for reuse in the same installation or in a different installation.

The invention is not to be limited to the exact arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings or described in this specification as various changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. For example, if desired, the elevation post 62 of the shore 12 may be dispensed with, in which case, no initial adjustment for leveling the various domes 14 may be made from above dome level, the threaded engagement between the tubular body portion 36 and the post section 38 of the shore head 34 being relied upon for dome leveling purposes.

I claim:

1. A dome-supporting shore comprising an elongated generally cylindrical post adapted to be positioned vertically in a concrete ceiling slab installation with its lower end supported on a foundation surface and its upper end in slab-supporting relationship with respect to a group of four quadrilaterally arranged rectangular domes having adjacent truncated corner regions which establish a square void at the center of the group, a cradle member movably mounted on said post in the upper region thereof for limited vertical displacement between a raised and a lowered position and for rotational movement about the vertical axis of the post, said cradle member comprising a tubular sleeve loosely encircling the post, and a pair of dome-supporting ledge-like supports extending radially from said sleeve in opposite directions, each ledge-like support being adapted to receive thereon the converging truncated corner regions of two side-by-side domes of said group, means on said post establishing an upwardly facing fixed reaction shoulder upon which the. lower rim of said tubular sleeve is adapted to rest to determine the lowered position of the cradle member, a removable reaction member adapted to be positioned between said sleeve and said reaction shoulder and upon which the lower rim of the sleeve is adapted to rest to determine the raised position of the cradle member, a shore head on the upper end of said post and constituting, in effect, an upward extension of the latter, said shore head comprising a rotatable tubular body portion telescopically and threadedly received on the upper end of the post, and a closure plate supported on and removably closing the upper end of said tubular body portion, a cylindrical housing having its lower end welded to said closure plate and projecting upwardly therefrom in concentric relation with respect to said rotatable tubular body portion, a square filler plate loosely resting on the upper end of said cylindrical housing in sealing relation with respect to said square void, a pilot grid on the underneath side of said filler plate and servingto center the plate upon the housing, said tubular sleeve, when resting on said upwardly facingrelation shoulder, being capable of rotation in an out-of-the-way position with respect to the converging corner regions of one pair of diagonally aligned domes of said group to permit vertical lowering of said domes beneath the level of said ledge-like supports for removal of such domes for the installation. 

1. A dome-supporting shore comprising an elongated generally cylindrical post adapted to be positioned vertically in a concrete ceiling slab installation with its lower end supported on a foundation surface and its upper end in slab-supporting relationship with respect to a group of four quadrilaterally arranged rectangular domes having adjacent truncated corner regions which establish a square void at the center of the group, a cradle member movably mounted on said post in the upper region thereof for limited vertical displacement between a raised and a lowered position and for rotational movement about the vertical axis of the post, said cradle member comprising a tubular sleeve loosely encircling the post, and a pair of dome-supporting ledgelike supports extending radially from said sleeve in opposite directions, each ledge-like support being adapted to receive thereon the converging truncated corner regions of two side-byside domes of said group, means on said post establishing an upwardly facing fixed reaction shoulder upon which the lower rim of said tubular sleeve is adapted to rest to determine the lowered position of the cradle member, a removable reaction member adapted to be positioned between said sleeve and said reaction shoulder and upon which the lower rim of the sleeve is adapted to rest to determine the raised position of the cradle member, a shore head on the upper end of said post and constituting, in effect, an upward extension of the latter, said shore head comprising a rotatable tubular body portion telescopically and threadedly received on the upper end of the post, and a closure plate supported on and removably closing the upper end of said tubular body portion, a cylindrical housing having its lower end welded to said closure plate and projecting upwardly therefrom in concentric relation with respect to said rotatable tubular body portion, a square filler plate loosely resting on the upper end of said cylindrical housing in sealing relation with respect to said square void, a pilot grid on the underneath side of said filler plate and serving to center the plate upon the housing, said tubular sleeve, when resting on said upwardly facing relation shoulder, being capable of rotatIon in an out-of-the-way position with respect to the converging corner regions of one pair of diagonally aligned domes of said group to permit vertical lowering of said domes beneath the level of said ledge-like supports for removal of such domes for the installation. 